Department for Transport

Roads: Speed Limits

Sir Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the criteria are for authorising an average speed monitored stretch of non-motorway highway; what measures are in place to prevent an artificially low speed limit being implemented and then being made subject to an average speed limit camera check; and if he will make a statement.

Andrew Jones: It is up to the Highways Authority and the Police to decide whether to use cameras and how they wish to operate them. Guidance was issued in 2007 entitled “Use of speed and red-light camera for traffic enforcement: guidance on deployment, visibility and signing”.This can be viewed on GOV.UK. This guidance is not mandatory but on 20 October 2015 we wrote to local authorities drawing it to their attention.The Department issued revised guidance entitled “Setting local speed limits” in January 2013 aimed mainly at local traffic authorities who are responsible for setting speed limits on local roads. It has been designed to help explain to everyone why and how local speed limits are determined. This guidance was revised following full public consultation in Summer 2012 and is available online on GOV.UK.

Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

Construction

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps he is taking to support the creation of painting and decorating opportunities in the construction sector.

Nick Boles: Late payment remains an important issue for small businesses in the UK. The Government is taking significant steps to assist small businesses to recover late payment debts.Through the Enterprise Bill, currently before Parliament, we will legislate to establish a Small Business Commissioner to help small business resolve disputes with large companies, tackling, in particular, late payment. The Commissioner will act as a disincentive to unfavourable payment practices, and build the confidence and capabilities of small businesses to help them to assert themselves in contractual disputes and negotiate more effectively with larger businesses.This is part of a package of measures to tackle late payment. We have also legislated for new transparency measures in the public and private sectors. This will allow full public scrutiny of payment performance.We have also strengthened the Prompt Payment Code to ensure it is a recognised and demonstrated beacon of best practice, and we recently consulted on proposals to give representative bodies wider powers to challenge grossly unfair payment practices.Government promotes fair payment practices in construction through legislation (the "Construction Act"), the use of public procurement (promoting prompt payment to Tier 3 and the use of Project Bank Accounts), and by working with the industry through voluntary measures (such as the Prompt Payment Code and the Construction Leadership Council's Payment Charter).The Payment Charter includes a commitment of zero retentions by 2025. To support this work, the Government recently announced a review of the practice of cash retentions under construction contracts.Tackling late payment is about creating a responsible payment culture where larger companies recognise the benefit of having a sustainable and robust supply chain, and smaller businesses feel able to challenge poor behaviour. Once implemented, the Government is confident that these measures will lead to significant changes in the UK's payment culture.

Medicine: Education

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what proportion of medical students in England and Wales are white men from a working class background.

Joseph Johnson: The Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) collects and publishes data on students at UK Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). HESA does not collect information on whether students come specifically from a working-class background, nor does it have a definition of the term working-class.Information on the ethnicity and socio-economic classification of young entrants (those aged less than 21 years old) to medicine subjects at English and Welsh Higher Education Institutions in the academic year 2013/14 is provided in the table. Information on older entrants by socioeconomic background is not available.Full-Person Equivalent (FPE)(1) young entrants(2) studying Medicine(3) by Sex, Ethnicity, and Socioeconomic Classification (SEC)English and Welsh Higher Education InstitutionsAcademic Year 2013/14MaleFemaleTotalWhiteOtherUnknownWhiteOtherUnknownWhiteOtherUnknownHigher managerial & professional occupations5503301065033510120066520Lower managerial & professional occupations2901305390155568028510Intermediate occupations1207051257002451405Small employers & own account workers3550055500901000Lower supervisory & technical occupations301503010065250Semi-routine occupations35500708001051300Routine occupations102003025040450Never worked & long-term unemployed050000050Not classified1801305195135537526515Total1255800301545865202800166550Source: Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) Student Record.Notes: Figures are based on a HESA standard registration population and have been rounded up or down to the nearest five, so components may not sum to totals.(1) Counts in the table refer to Full Person Equivalents (FPEs). FPEs are derived by splitting student instances between the different subjects that make up their course aim.(2) Young entrants are defined as those younger than 21 years old at August 31st of their first academic year(3) Subject information is defined using the Joint Academic Coding System (JACS2). Medical Subjects were defined as those in JACS Codes A0, A1, A3 and A9

Business: Advisory Services

Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what representations he has received from business groups on the closure of the Business Growth Service.

Anna Soubry: To date I have received no official representations from business groups on the closure of the Business Growth Service.

Business: Advisory Services

Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he has made of the effect on small businesses and entrepreneurs of the closure of the Business Growth Service.

Anna Soubry: We do not expect closure of the Business Growth Service to have an impact on small businesses and entrepreneurs.

Department for International Development

Darwin Initiative

Mary Creagh: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how much her Department has spent on the Darwin Initiative in each year since 2010.

Mr Nick Hurd: I refer the Hon Lady to the answer given by my Hon Friend, the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Environment and Rural Affairs (Rory Stewart MP) on 5 January 2016 (UIN: 20429)

Developing Countries: Health

Mr Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what effect Sustainable Development Goal 3 has had on her Department's aid strategy for UK; and what account she plans to take of that goal in forming the new UK aid strategy.

Mr Nick Hurd: DFID will continue to play a leading role in health globally supporting developing countries to meet the Global Goal 3. DFID’s work on health is also guided by the Government’s International Development manifesto commitments and the new UK Aid Strategy. This work will benefit millions of people, which will avoid needless deaths; and encourage healthier populations who are better able to contribute to their nation’s prosperity; and increase the ability of these countries to develop, which is in the UK’s national interest. We will also help build strong health systems that can sustain the gains.For example, the new Ross Fund announced in the UK Aid Strategy is a commitment to global public health that will fund work to tackle diseases of epidemic potential, such as Ebola, neglected tropical diseases, drug resistant infections, and malaria. This will directly contribute to the achievement of a number of the global goal health targets.

Poliomyelitis

Ian C. Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what progress her Department has made on achieving the goals of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative.

Mr Nick Hurd: The UK Government is fully committed to global polio eradication and is the third largest donor to the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, providing £300 million for 2013 to 2019.UK funding has contributed, as part of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, to a greater than 99% decrease in polio cases since 1988, with no cases reported in Africa for over a year. Only two countries, Pakistan and Afghanistan, are now reporting cases of wild polio, meaning we are now closer than ever to global eradication.

Global Fund to Fight Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria

Stephen Gethins: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department plans to take at the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria's pre-replenishment meeting in Tokyo to encourage increased funding from other donors.

Mr Nick Hurd: The UK government supports calls for shared responsibility and global solidarity in the response to HIV, Tuberculosis and Malaria.We strongly believe countries should commit according to their ability to contribute. At the pre-replenishment meeting in Tokyo the UK urged all countries to contribute their fair share to the 2017-2019 Global Fund replenishment to ensure a quicker end to AIDS, TB and Malaria.

Ministry of Justice

Prisoners' Release

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the letter sent in response to Question 6758, answered on 16 July 2015, what offences were committed by the 291 prisoners in the violence against the person category released on temporary licence on 25 December 2014.

Andrew Selous: We have tightened the rules on temporary release, particularly in relation to those with a serious offending history and, in 2014, the number of breaches of temporary release fell by 39%. This is the lowest failure rate since 2002. Release on Temporary Licence is not automatic. Release must be justified in terms of the offender’s sentence plan and particular care is taken in considering applications for temporary release at Christmas. Last year, 98% of prisoners remained in prison on Christmas Day.The offences committed by the 291 prisoners with a principal offence in the violence against the person category of offences, and who were on temporary release on 25 December 2014, were as follows:OffenceNumberViolence against the person291Murder74Attempted murder6Making threats to kill*Conspire, aid or incite murder*Manslaughter10Death by reckless driving16Wounding (inflicting GBH)158Assault occasioning ABH*Other assault*Possess firearms with intent13Other violence against the person6Data sources and qualityThe figures in these tables have been drawn from administrative IT systems which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing. An asterisk (*) has been used to denote where there are 5 or fewer prisoners. This is to prevent the disclosure of individual information. Further disclosure control may be completed where this alone is not sufficient.

Prisoners: Self-harm

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many incidents there were of (a) self-harm, (b) attempted self-inflicted death and (c) self-inflicted death by prisoners on remand in each year since 2010; and what proportion of all prisoners on remand such incidents represented in each of those years.

Andrew Selous: An error has been identified in the written answer given on 05 January 2016.The correct answer should have been:

Every death in custody is a tragedy, and we are committed to reducing the number of self-inflicted deaths and self-harm incidents in prisons. Since 2010 the number of self-harm incidents and self-inflicted deaths by prisoners on remand has fallen significantly. All prisons are required to have procedures in place to identify, manage and support people who are at risk of harm to themselves, and the National Offender Management Service (NOMS) has put in place additional resources to undertake this safer custody work. NOMS has also reviewed case management process for prisoners assessed as being at risk and will be acting on the recommendations in due course.The national statistics on safety in custody use the following categories: self-harm incidents are defined as “any act where a prisoner deliberately harms themselves irrespective of the method, intent or severity of any injury”; and self-inflicted deaths are defined as “any death of a person who has apparently taken his or her own life, irrespective of intent.” They do not include a separate category of “attempted self-inflicted death”, because the intent of the prisoner is often unknown. Some incidents are more likely to result in a fatality than others, but the point at which a self-harm incident becomes an attempted self-inflicted death is unclear. For this reason, the tables below include the answers to parts (a) and (c) of the question only. It is not possible to provide the proportion of prisoners that self-harm incidents relate to, as more than one incident may be attributed to the same individual. Instead, a rate per 1,000 prisoners has been provided.Self-harm incidents by prisoners on remand, England and Wales, 2010 to 201420102011201220132014Number of incidents7,7465,3023,8203,6883,913Incidents per 1,000 remand prisoners596413327332325Self-inflicted deaths by prisoners on remand, England and Wales, 2010 to 201420102011201220132014Number of deaths2920172418Deaths per 1,000 remand prisoners2.21.61.52.21.5

Andrew Selous: Every death in custody is a tragedy, and we are committed to reducing the number of self-inflicted deaths and self-harm incidents in prisons. Since 2010 the number of self-harm incidents and self-inflicted deaths by prisoners on remand has fallen significantly. All prisons are required to have procedures in place to identify, manage and support people who are at risk of harm to themselves, and the National Offender Management Service (NOMS) has put in place additional resources to undertake this safer custody work. NOMS has also reviewed case management process for prisoners assessed as being at risk and will be acting on the recommendations in due course.The national statistics on safety in custody use the following categories: self-harm incidents are defined as “any act where a prisoner deliberately harms themselves irrespective of the method, intent or severity of any injury”; and self-inflicted deaths are defined as “any death of a person who has apparently taken his or her own life, irrespective of intent.” They do not include a separate category of “attempted self-inflicted death”, because the intent of the prisoner is often unknown. Some incidents are more likely to result in a fatality than others, but the point at which a self-harm incident becomes an attempted self-inflicted death is unclear. For this reason, the tables below include the answers to parts (a) and (c) of the question only. It is not possible to provide the proportion of prisoners that self-harm incidents relate to, as more than one incident may be attributed to the same individual. Instead, a rate per 1,000 prisoners has been provided.Self-harm incidents by prisoners on remand, England and Wales, 2010 to 201420102011201220132014Number of incidents7,7465,3023,8203,6883,913Incidents per 1,000 remand prisoners596413327332325Self-inflicted deaths by prisoners on remand, England and Wales, 2010 to 201420102011201220132014Number of deaths2920172418Deaths per 1,000 remand prisoners2.21.61.52.21.5

Prisons

Andy Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what representations he has received on his Department's projections for prison (a) population and (b) capacity over the next 12 months.

Andy Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 15 December 2015 to Question 19570, if he will launch a public consultation on prison closures.

Andy Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate he has made of the number of prison cells reckoned as (a) certified normal and (b) operational capacity accommodation in each of the next five years.

Andrew Selous: The Ministry of Justice annually publishes prison population projections annually as a national statistic. The most recent projections were published on 26th of November 2015 and can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/480031/prison-population-projections-2015-2021.pdfWe will always ensure there are enough prison places for those who are sentenced to custody by the courts. Decisions on the number of places required will depend on population trends and projections over the coming years.The decision to close a prison is made by ministers, taking into account a range of factors. After the announcement of a closure, the Ministry of Justice will work with stakeholders to ensure that we manage the local impact of a prison closure.

Department for Culture, Media and Sport

Department for Culture, Media and Sport: Public Appointments

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 8 December 2015 to Question 18148, if he will provide a breakdown of public appointments by his Department its executive agencies and non-governmental bodies by (a) gender, (b) ethnicity, (c) socio-economic group, (d) sexual orientation and (e) disability status in each of the last three years.

Mr Edward Vaizey: DCMS encourages applications from candidates with the widest range of backgrounds. We work closely with Cabinet Office to identify potential barriers to appointments, and put in place a number of actions to overcome them.The following statistics are a breakdown of new appointments made by DCMS. Candidates are not required to answer questions about gender, race, sexual orientation or disability - many do not. The stats provided are for candidates who have chosen to disclose this information. Therefore this data is only a snapshot and cannot be used as an accurate representation of our diversity statistics. GenderMaleFemale2015 – 16 (Q1 and Q2)19112014 - 1522222013 - 142921EthnicityWhiteBAME2015 – 16 (Q1 and Q2)24-2014 - 153332013 - 14454Disability StatusYesNo2015 – 16 (Q1 and Q2)02014 - 151322013 - 140The information providedis a breakdown ofallappointments made by this department. Candidates are not required to answer questions aboutgender, race, sexual orientation or disability. The stats provided are for candidates who have chosen to disclose this information.GenderMaleFemale2015 – 16 (Q1 and Q2)34152014 - 1543352013 - 144729EthnicityWhiteBAME2015 – 16 (Q1 and Q2)3922014 - 155962013 - 14714Disability StatusYesNo2015 – 16 (Q1 and Q2)02014 - 151542013 - 14273DCMS does notcollectdata on socio-economic group of appointees.DCMS does notcollatedata on sexual orientation of appointees.

Sportsgrounds: Safety

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 15 December 2015 to Question 12142, if his Department will publish any expert advice it has received to inform its policy on the safety of safe-standing facilities at higher tier sports stadia.

Tracey Crouch: Government is not, at present, persuaded by the case put forward to re-introduce standing accommodation in grounds covered by the all-seater requirement. We will, however, monitor its introduction in Scotland closely and reassess this position once evidence from the Scottish experience is available and the Hillsborough Inquests have concluded, taking into account any recommendations made by the coroner on stadium safety.

Department for Work and Pensions

State Retirement Pensions: Females

Danny Kinahan: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of how many women affected by state pension age equalisation live in Northern Ireland.

Justin Tomlinson: The issue raised is a matter for the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Bovine Tuberculosis: Disease Control

Mrs Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of (a) the efficacy of the third badger pilot cull in Somerset and (b) the humaneness of the badger pilot culls to date.

George Eustice: The UK Chief Veterinary Officer has advised that (a) the outcome of this year’s culls indicates that industry-led culling can deliver the level of effectiveness required to be confident of achieving disease control benefits; and (b) that the humaneness of controlled shooting is comparable with the range of outcomes reported when other culling activities, currently accepted by society, have been assessed, such as deer shooting.

Bovine Tuberculosis: Disease Control

Mrs Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she plans to extend badger culls into new areas.

George Eustice: As outlined in a Written Ministerial Statement on 17 December, the Government wants to see badger control over a wider number of areas this year. This is in line with the UK Chief Veterinary Officer’s advice and our comprehensive strategy to eradicate bovine TB in England.

Bovine Tuberculosis: Disease Control

Mrs Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will publish an analysis of the outcomes and costs of the third badger cull.

George Eustice: The Government has published a summary of badger control monitoring during 2015 on the GOV.UK website. The Government will publish its costs once they have been finalised.

Livestock: Antibiotics

Mr Philip Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what (a) guidelines, (b) regulations and (c) EU directives are in place which restrict the use of antibiotics for livestock.

George Eustice: The rules governing the authorisation and use of veterinary medicines are set at the European level through an EU Directive and these apply to all Member States. All antibiotic veterinary medicines in the UK are available only on prescription by a veterinary surgeon, who in turn is only permitted to prescribe to animals under their care.The Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD), an executive agency of the Department for Food, Environment and Rural Affairs (Defra), published the ‘Code of Practice on the responsible use of animal medicines on the farm’ in December 2014. The guidance makes it clear that the Government does not support the routine preventative use of antibiotics, or the use of antibiotics to compensate for poor animal husbandry.A number of UK veterinary and farming organisations have well established guidance on the prescription and use of veterinary medicines, including antibiotics.

Poultry: Animal Welfare

Mr David Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the inspection regime is for ensuring that hens are housed in conditions compliant with relevant EU directives.

Mr David Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of the dependency that hen welfare has on the frequency of human attention regardless of the position of the cages in which they are kept.

George Eustice: The Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) enforces the relevant welfare legislation and carries out welfare inspections on farms to check that the UK legislation, which implements European law, is being followed. This includes spot checks and planned risk based inspections.In addition, a programme of inspections is carried out under EU cross compliance legislation to farmers that claim cross-compliance subsidies. The APHA also enforce the requirement for owners or other responsible persons to inspect their hens at least once a day.Our expert advisory committee, the Farm Animal Welfare Committee, has concluded that stockmanship, and the correct application of husbandry standards, whatever the system of production, is key to ensuring good welfare for farmed animals. This view is relevant to all livestock, whether in intensive or extensive production systems. The EU Commission’s Scientific Panel on Animal Health and Welfare recognised that there is a wide variety of enriched cage designs for laying hens, and that the layout of some cages can affect bird inspection. Both the EU Commission in its 2008 report on the welfare of laying hens in various systems and the Farm Animal Welfare Committee recognise the welfare benefits of enriched cages and have given their support to this system of production.

Home Office

Police: Bureaucracy

Jack Dromey: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an assessment of the potential effect on police workloads of planned reductions in Ministry of Justice spending in (a) victims' support services, (b) vulnerability strategies, (c) youth offending services and the Youth Justice Board and (d) legal aid.

Mike Penning: Funding for these services is a matter for the Secretary of State for Justice, who has confirmed that Police and Crime Commissioners’ budgets for victims’ services have been protected over the period of the spending review, and final funding levels for 2016/17 will be confirmed as soon as possible. The Secretary of State for Justice has also appointed Charlie Taylor to conduct a review of the youth justice system which will report in the summer of 2016 and will make recommendations on how the youth justice system will operate in future.The Ministry of Justice’s spending review settlement does not depend upon a reduction in criminal legal aid.We expect Police and Crime Commissioners to continue to work closely with local partners to provide an efficient and effective criminal justice system for their police force areas.

Passports: Waiting Lists

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what change there has been in the number of passport applications waiting for more than two months to be processed between 1 July 2013 and 2015.

James Brokenshire: Due to the way that data on passport applications is captured, it is not possible to show the proportion of applications taking over two months to process. However, the numbers and proportions of straightforward properly completed passport applications taking over 20 days are represented in the table below.PeriodTotal ProcessedMore than & equal to 20 days% more than & equal 20 daysAugust 2013- July 20143,896,735197,1105%August 2014-July 20154,448,43691,1012%Overall 8,345,171  288,211 3%Days are working days and exclude bank holidays Straightforward cases are those that do not involve a complex nationality decision and where the customer has provided a complete application with all required documentary evidence Non-straightforward applications are not included in the figures above.

Police: Training

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she has taken to ensure that the police are adequately trained to tackle online criminal activity involving young people.

Mike Penning: The last Parliament invested £860 million over five years through the National Cyber Security Programme (NCSP) to increase the cyber security of the UK. The Chancellor also announced on 17 November that we plan to almost double investment in cyber security, including cyber crime, to £1.9 billion over the next five years. This will enable us to continue to invest in training at the national, regional and local levels. NCSP funding is being used to deliver specific training for officers in the National Cyber Crime Unit within the National Crime Agency (NCA), cyber teams within each of the Regional Organised Crime Units and local police officers and staff to increase their capabilities to tackle this issue.For example, the second Phase of the Mainstream Cyber Crime Training course was launched on 30 September 2015 by College of Policing to police officers and staff on cyber, digital and social media issues. The College and police forces also deliver a classroom-based course to police investigators, which includes bespoke modules on how young and vulnerable people become victims of cyber and digital crime online and what police can do to help, including preventing them from becoming victims.The National Cyber Crime Unit in the National Crime Agency has also recently launched a communications campaign to deter young people, particularly young males aged 12-15 with an interest in computer gaming, from becoming involved in cyber criminality. The campaign, launched on 8 December, is aimed at parents, teachers and young people to educate them about the risks of becoming involved, and the career opportunities for those with cyber skills.

HM Treasury

Welfare Tax Credits

Rebecca Long Bailey: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to Answer of 9 December 2015 to Question 18558, how many families in receipt of tax credits in 2013-14 who benefited from the income rise disregard saw their income rise by over £2,500 but no more than £5,000 during the course of the year.

Damian Hinds: As announced in the combined Autumn Statement and Spending Review, the amount by which a tax credit claimant's income can increase within the year before their tax credit award is adjusted (the income rise disregard), will be reduced from £5,000 to £2,500. This makes the tax credit system fairer so claimants on similar incomes will receive similar awards. Currently two families on precisely the same earnings at the end of the year can receive significantly different awards.The change returns the disregard back to the level it was between 2003 and 2006 - something the tax credit system is now operationally better able to cope with now that it has more up to date information on people's earnings through Real Time Information. HMRC are also making it easier to report changes quickly online, so that people will less often receive overpayments. Claimants can contact HMRC if they are suffering financial hardship and are having difficulty paying back an overpayment.The change will bring forward some of the benefits of Universal Credit so that the tax credit award reflects a claimant's recent earnings and the system responds more quickly to changes in earnings.

Department of Health

Mental Health Services

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the cost to the NHS of NHS mental health patients being treated in non-NHS institutions has been in each of the last three years.

Alistair Burt: An error has been identified in the written answer given on 20 November 2015.The correct answer should have been:

NHS England’s specialised commissioning total spend on contracts with independent sector mental health providers is as follows:YearSpend (£ million)2013/144782014/155812015/16576Note: figures are based on contract values.This expenditure relates to a number of different service types including: adult secure services; eating disorder services, gender identity services, child and adolescent mental health in patient services.Details of local clinical commissioning group spend with independent sector providers is not collected centrally. The total NHS expenditure on non-NHS providers is collected centrally, and is published on page 47 of the Department’s annual report, available from:https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/447002/DH_accounts_14-15_web.pdfThis report divides providers by type (i.e. independent sector providers, voluntary organisations) – it does not specify the different types of services provided.

Alistair Burt: NHS England’s specialised commissioning total spend on contracts with independent sector mental health providers is as follows:YearSpend (£ million)2013/144782014/155812015/16576Note: figures are based on contract values.This expenditure relates to a number of different service types including: adult secure services; eating disorder services, gender identity services, child and adolescent mental health in patient services.Details of local clinical commissioning group spend with independent sector providers is not collected centrally. The total NHS expenditure on non-NHS providers is collected centrally, and is published on page 47 of the Department’s annual report, available from:https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/447002/DH_accounts_14-15_web.pdfThis report divides providers by type (i.e. independent sector providers, voluntary organisations) – it does not specify the different types of services provided.

Care Homes: Food

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the nutritional adequacy of food provided by private care homes.

Alistair Burt: The law requires that care homes must meet the nutritional and hydration needs of service users, including any reasonable requirements for food and hydration arising from their preferences or religious or cultural backgrounds.The Care Quality Commission has a range of enforcement powers it can use to ensure that providers of health and adult social care services comply with their legal responsibilities.

Care Homes

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what research his Department has conducted on the number of private care homes with inadequate numbers of staff.

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what research his Department has conducted on the effect on patient care of variable levels of staffing at private care homes at different times of the day.

Alistair Burt: The Department has not conducted any such research.The law requires that all care homes must ensure that sufficient numbers of suitably qualified, competent, skilled and experienced staff are on duty at all times to meet the needs of users of services.The Care Quality Commission has a range of enforcement powers it can use to ensure that providers of health and adult social care services comply with their legal responsibilities.

Medical Treatments

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions he has had with the Clinical Director Specialised Commissioning for NHS England and the external assessments centres at Newcastle and York on the Commissioning through Evaluation programme.

George Freeman: NHS England has established an innovative Commissioning through Evaluation (CtE) programme to gather new data to support future policy decisions for treatments that are not routinely commissioned on the basis of current evidence of clinical and cost effectiveness, but nonetheless show significant promise as future National Health Service treatments.The CtE programme is run in partnership with the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) who provide independent advice and evaluation of the individual schemes. As part of this role, NICE secures the assistance of External Assessment Centres (EACs) to aid the collection and analysis of data. NICE has commissioned the joint Newcastle and York EAC to assist in the evaluation of three cardiology based CtE schemes, on behalf of NHS England. They are responsible for directly managing the relationship.The new Director for Specialised Commissioning is due to assume his responsibilities at the beginning of 2016, and as such has not yet met with the Secretary of State.

Medical Records

John Pugh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will limit the costs that hospitals can charge for providing medical records to third parties or relatives of deceased persons.

George Freeman: The Access to Health Records Act 1990 provides certain individuals with a right to apply for access to a deceased person’s health record. Record holders are entitled to recover their costs in relation to providing copies of records, and while there is no limit on this charge it should not result in a profit for the record holder. We have no plans to review these arrangements.

Care Homes: Trade Unions

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department will take to enable union representation in private care homes.

Alistair Burt: The Department is not responsible for enabling trades union representation in private care homes. Such matters are for negotiation and agreement between operators of care homes, their staff and trades unions themselves.

Hepatitis

Mr Andrew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate NHS England has made of how many patients will commence treatment for hepatitis C in 2016.

Jane Ellison: NHS England and the 22 Operational Delivery Networks are working together to discuss the implications for planned treatment during 2016/17 of the recently published National Institute for Health and Care Excellence Technology Appraisals for three new oral treatments (Sofosbuvir + Ledispasvir; Daclatasvir; Paritaprevi/ritonavir/ Ombitasvir+/-dasabuvir).These appraisals recommend access (depending on hepatitis C genotype and cirrhosis status) for patients where treatment and prescribing decisions are made by multidisciplinary teams in the operational delivery networks, and where patients have been prioritised for treatment based on highest unmet clinical need. This work will continue over the next two months and we will have a better idea of the number of patients later this financial year.

Medical Treatments: Technology

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if his Department will make an assessment of the effect on patient access to medical technologies of NHS England's development of specialised commissioning policies in each of the last three years; and if he will make a statement.

George Freeman: NHS England holds direct commissioning responsibility for prescribed specialised services. This includes the development of clinical commissioning policies which establish fair and equitable access for patients in England to drugs, medical devices and treatments for specialised services.The current portfolio of innovative medical devices that are routinely commissioned by NHS England for specialised services is broad and includes Deep Brain Stimulation for a number of clinical indications; Spinal Rods for Scoliosis that may be adjusted in children non-invasively; and a Phrenic Nerve Stimulator to assist the breathing of patients with spinal cord injury.Where a device based treatment is not yet routinely commissioned on the basis of the current evidence of clinical and cost effectiveness, but is nonetheless believed to show significant promise as a future National Health Service treatment, NHS England has established a Commissioning through Evaluation (CtE) programme to gather valuable additional data to inform future decisions on eligibility for NHS funded care. Selective Internal Radiation Therapy - where radioactive beads are used to deliver focussed treatment of tumours within the liver, and Mitraclip - enabling non-surgical repair of the mitral valve of the heart - are two examples included in NHS England's current CtE programme.

Clinical Commissioning Groups

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answers of 16 December 2015 to Question 19441 and 20 November 2015 to Question 16648, what the reason is for the apparent difference in the data collection policies on local clinical commissioning groups' spend with independent sector providers described in those Answers.

Alistair Burt: An error has been identified in the written answer given on 05 January 2016.The correct answer should have been:

This corrects the answers to Questions 16648 and 19441. This was the result of a miscommunication between NHS England and the Department. The total NHS expenditure on non-NHS providers is collected centrally, and is published on page 47 of the Department’s annual report, available from:https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/447002/DH_accounts_14-15_web.pdfThis report divides providers by type (i.e. independent sector providers, voluntary organisations) – it does not specify the different types of services provided.

Alistair Burt: This corrects the answers to Questions 16648 and 19441. This was the result of a miscommunication between NHS England and the Department. The total NHS expenditure on non-NHS providers is collected centrally, and is published on page 47 of the Department’s annual report, available from:https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/447002/DH_accounts_14-15_web.pdfThis report divides providers by type (i.e. independent sector providers, voluntary organisations) – it does not specify the different types of services provided.

Medical Treatments: Technology

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will maintain patient access to technologies considered through commissioning through evaluation programmes during that evaluation.

George Freeman: There are two main phases for any treatments entered into NHS England's Commissioning through Evaluation (CtE) programme.During the first phase, an agreed number of patients are recruited to the scheme within just a few participating centres across England. This enables patients to benefit from the skills and expertise in each centre, within an evaluation programme, whilst detailed clinical and patient experience data are collected.Once the total number of patients have been treated, the scheme enters an analysis phase. Whilst any patients already treated under the scheme will continue to receive appropriate follow up care, no new patients will be funded by NHS England during the analysis phase.This ensures that NHS England directs the majority of public funds to evidence based care and also means that dedicated CtE programme funding can then be redirected to support patient recruitment in another area of specialised care where further evaluation data is needed.This represents a continuation of NHS England's published policy position for the treatment concerned (i.e. that the treatment is not routinely commissioned by the National Health Service).

Members: Correspondence

Sir Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when he plans to answer the letter to his Department from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton, dated 16 November 2015 with regard to Mr M Bolton.

George Freeman: My Rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health replied to the hon. Member’s letter of 16 November 2015 on 16 December 2015.